Last, Best Chance
by XxFae1605xX
Summary: Revelations about a certain Professor's past begin to change the views of the Hogwarts students... especially when one of the demons comes back with a vengeance. As always, I DO NOT own these characters, I'm borrowing them temporarily.


**Last, Best Chance**

"I can't believe him! Bloody Snape, who the hell does he think he is, treating people like this?" Harry was fuming over the latest outrage committed by the potion's master, and he wasn't the only one.

"I know; he's such an arrogant prat; he doesn't have a clue how to treat people." Ron flopped into one of the armchairs by the fire, shaking his head.

"It's no wonder he has no friends." Neville added, looking sad. "He's just so nasty, all the time. Who can stand getting close to someone like that?"

"Guys, you really need to stop for a second. There's far more to this than you think." Eerin had her hands out, palms down, trying her hardest to diffuse the swirl of negativity between her friends.

"How can you condone his behaviour, Eerin?" Hermione asked, incredulous. "He was completely out of line."

"I know he was, Hermione. I'm not trying to condone his behaviour. I completely agree that it was horrible the way he acted. I've always been on your side over this. I have taken him to task so many times over the way he acts; I've ended up feeling like his mother on occasion. I don't agree with what he does and how he treats people. But I do understand why, and he has a very good reason for not wanting people to get close to him."

"What reason could he possibly have for treating people the way he does?!" Harry growled. "How can he possibly justify pushing people like that?"

"Would you say that being beaten almost to death by your father would be a reason?" Eerin said.

"What?" Hermione whispered.

"I want to tell you all about something I saw when I was eleven. And when you hear it, you will understand something about him.

_It was about a week before I first came to Hogwarts. Grandpa was going to visit Snape at his house, and I went along for the ride. As we were walking down Spinner's End – that's the street he lives on – we saw someone coming out of the house; someone who wasn't Severus. I didn't recognise him, but Grandpa did. He said something to him, I can't remember what; but I do remember the name. Tobias. I recognised it at the time, but it took me a little while to make the connection. Tobias Snape is Severus' father. I'd always known that they'd had issues – I'd heard Severus talking to Grandpa once about his father's behaviour – so I didn't understand why Tobias was there; I thought maybe they'd reconciled. I still remember what Tobias said as he passed us:_

"_My son has always gotten exactly what he deserves from me. Remind him of that, won't you?"_

_I remember being so scared by that, but not knowing why. I didn't know at the time that there had been many occasions when Tobias had beaten Severus badly. Grandpa and I practically ran down what was left of the street. When we walked through the door… I don't know what it was, but something just pulled us straight to the living room. He was there, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. There was a riding crop at his side. When we went to him, we could see that he'd been whipped. Grandpa pulled him to his feet and we led him to the bathroom upstairs. When Grandpa pulled his shirt off, we could see that some of the whip lashes had gone through muscle. Grandpa filled the basin with warm water, and tried to use a cloth to clean away the blood, but Severus screamed in pain. Grandpa couldn't touch him, even though his touch is extremely delicate. Grandpa gave me the cloth, and I tried. He still winced, but it was more bearable for him. Grandpa told me to clean him up, and put a salve on his wounds while he cleaned up downstairs. So I did. While I cleaned away the blood, I realised that there was a patch about the size of my hand that, when I touched it, didn't make him wince. As the blood cleared, I realised there was a burn mark there, a very old one. The scar was so bad that his nerves had gone. He had no feeling in that patch, at all. So I cleared the blood away, and then I started covering the wounds with salve. As I did that, I happened to look at his reflection in the mirror. He had tears streaming down his face. You know how, when a kid's crying over his parents fighting, he cries without realising it? That's what it was like. _

_Once I was done with the salve, I took a hold of his hand and tugged it. He just looked at me, so I pulled harder and lead him into his bedroom. He lay down on his stomach, and I started to leave; but his grip on my hand tightened. It was reflexive, not necessarily something he was aware of. I didn't really know what to do, so I sat on the edge of the bed. He looked sort of dazed, like he was in shock. I thought it would be best for him to get some sleep, so I started singing old lullabies that I remember my mother singing me. After a while it worked, and he fell asleep; so I left to go downstairs. It was about an hour that he slept, so I sat on the floor reading while Grandpa lounged around on the couch. He came down eventually, rubbing his eyes like a kid who'd just woken. He blinked at me, and said that I was actually allowed to sit _on_ the couch, that he really wasn't that strict. Then he came and sat next to me. He told me he was grateful to me for what I'd done for him, but he was sorry I'd had to see it. I told him not to worry about it. He tried to object, but I stopped him. I pulled up my sleeve and showed him the scars left on my arms from my father extinguishing his cigarettes on my arms. _

_ "I know what it's like"_

When Eerin looked up, the others were all staring at her.

"You're kidding right?" Ron muttered, looking at her like he'd never seen her before.

"No, I am not kidding. That wasn't the first time, and it may not be that last. He was almost beaten to death multiple times by his father, his mother never tried to stop it, and when he came here he was tormented and teased and isolated by almost every student in his class. No one has ever given him the chance; no one. So that's why he's the way he is. It's not right, the way he treats people, but I do understand it."

The next few days were tense for Eerin and her friends. It was hard for Harry, Ron, and the twins to believe that past incidents were explanation for Snape's behaviour; Neville and Hermione were more understanding, but still had difficulties with it. For Eerin, it was a horrible time. She had to balance defending someone she cared about, without alienating her friends. If it wasn't for what happened a week after their conversation, the situation might have continued for months.

It was a Saturday morning when it happened. The seven of them were finishing their breakfast when they heard the shouts, then a bloodcurdling scream. Eerin bolted from her seat, and one look at the expression on her face was enough for the others to guess who it was. They ran from the Great Hall, and saw Snape writhing on the floor with a man standing over him. The man held a cat o' nine tails; and it was caked with fresh blood. Before they could blink, Eerin had barrelled into the man, and knocked him to the floor. Harry strode to her side, and stood between Snape and Tobias.

"You don't touch him." He said, looking Tobias in the eye. "No one beats our Potions Master but us. You do not touch him."

Hermione walked over to join him, then Neville, then all three Weasley boys. With the seven of them facing him down, Tobias looked far less confident. He locked eyes with Eerin.

"You've seen what I can do." He sneered. "You think you're enough to stop me?"

He stepped closer, and then closer. Eerin raised her chin, and when he stepped too close, her arm whipped out and her fist collected his jaw. There was a loud crack, and his jaw was broken. Eerin stepped up to him, and spoke into his face.

"Leave. And don't you _ever_ come near him again."

Tobias looked around at the seven of them, and then bolted. The twin's and Neville helped Eerin get Snape to his feet, and the seven of them led him to the hospital wing.

It had taken a while for all the talk and treatment to end. Eerin had stayed the whole time. Looking down into Severus' dazed eyes, she hadn't been able to leave him. He'd been asleep for a while, and now Eerin herself was feeling tired. She rested her head on the mattress near his hand, and felt her eyelids growing heavy. The last thing she thought was that it really wasn't so bad, being close to Severus Snape.

So tired was Eerin, that she didn't notice her grandfather, and Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway. They'd been there for a while; long enough to see the way she was acting towards the man. Both knew where this was heading, and both agreed that – for both Eerin and Severus – this might just be their last, best chance at happiness.


End file.
